<p>I know a student who received a likely letter from Yale - so presumably the admissions committee thought this student was among the top 100 or so – at least in math and science. (Not sure of exact number of likely letters sent.) But simultaneously this student was rejected from Yale-Singapore’s program. I don’t quite fathom how the same student can be considered among the top 100 students in the U.S. and yet not make the cut for Yale-Singapore. Is their program even more selective that Yale-US?</p>
<p>What is to explain? Yale and Yale-NUS is not some monolith. Yale must have found something very worthy and Yale-NUS found the applicant to not be unique. What’s the confusion?</p>
<p>As I see it, the two colleges have different goals in mind. I’m not sure of what Yale’s is, other than the purposely vague ‘well-rounded class,’ but I think based on articles and simple intuition, Yale-NUS is looking for students who will FIT in the Singaporean context. One thing that may go through an adcom’s head is, “will this student flourish in Singapore?” or maybe even, “will he/she move here if we accept him?” I have a friend who was accepted by all the Ivies, and rejected by Johns Hopkins. I also have a friend who had a 2300 who got rejected and another friend with a 2090 who got an acceptance. </p>
<p>It also goes without mentioning that thousands will face rejection given that Yale-NUS is looking for a class of only 150 students for its first year. One can also safely assume that, if a good number of those who applied to Yale simply ticked the box to share their apps to Yale-NUS, the college in Singapore was inundated by students who applied out of convenience and not genuine interest in spending their college years in Singapore. They might use the interview, which is only given to a subset of the overall pool, and essays to determine this. This may partly describe the selectivity. </p>
<p>Moreover, Yale-NUS, despite the Yale name, will predictably be very different from Yale in New Haven. They are likely looking for different (but accomplished/high achieving nonetheless) students altogether - my guess are more entrepreneurial students who will make significant strides in this new startup. Yale-NUS must probably be extremely careful in its consideration of who they eventually want to attend, because this class will impact the college in years to come. Yale-NUS might also want a more ‘Asian’ class, just like how Yale’s in New Haven is mostly American (international students count for just above 10%). If the situation I posited is above (most Yale applicants ticked the ‘Share to Yale-NUS box’) is true, then we might be able to rightly assume these things. </p>
<p>There are probably many more reasons, but this is how I think of it. In addition to this though, I think it’s safe to say that Yale gives likely letters to STEM students in order to bolster their sciences - Yale-NUS doesn’t have this consideration in mind. </p>
<p>Bottom line, Yale in New Haven and Yale-NUS in Singapore are looking for different things. In my opinion, it’s as simple as that. A rejection is probably not a judgment on one’s capabilities, but on one’s ‘fit factor’ for the school.</p>
<p>@tnr00001 that is honestly the best response one could ever give.</p>
<p>To the thread starter: has it maybe ever occurred to you that the rest of the world doesn’t owe your friend anything just because a school like Yale sent him a likely letter?</p>
<p>I’ve got a question: if I got accepted to Yale-NUS, does it mean I am likely to be accepted by Yale in New Haven, or any other top Ivies? I am international.</p>
<p>^Did you read post #3? </p>
<p>It’s a two way street, Y and Y-NUS are not necessarily looking for the same qualities in applicants; so If > Then scenarios are not applicable.</p>
<p>A big factor is that Yale-NUS is a LAC that only has 14 majors, and only two of them are math-science related. As for likely-lettered people who tend to be interested in specific fields and also engineering, Yale-NUS does not offer those and will thus reject them.</p>
<p>entomom, I meant in general, if I got into a selective school, I guess I am more likely to get in elsewhere than I would be otherwise.</p>
<p>Yes, in general, that is true. Statistically speaking.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your insights and opinions, especially tnr… for such a thorough response. Where you wrote; “I think it’s safe to say that Yale gives likely letters to STEM students in order to bolster their sciences - Yale-NUS doesn’t have this consideration in mind.” - I think that is interesting, because some of these top “STEM” students had truly extraordinary achievements (for confidentiality’s sake, I won’t be more specific, but they even competed against students from Singapore, and came out on top), so I don’t quite understand Yale-NUS’s goal – do they specifically seek “liberal arts types” only, and have no interest in recruiting the best mathematical/scientific minds from the United States? If that is their preference, that is fine - I just didn’t get any sense of a preference either way from viewing their website. And thus, why I was quite confused about this particular student’s rejection.</p>
<p>eastcoastazn, I realize “tone” can be easily misinterpreted via written communication, but I do sense a tone of “bitterness” (anger?) from your comment. I never said, implied, nor do I think I inferred that “the world owed” this student anything, and frankly, given this student’s sacrifices to achieve more in her 17 years than most people do in a LIFETIME, I like to think they “earned” whatever acceptances or level of success they attain. But when such a student is clearly recognized by one entity (in this case Yale), I was merely asking about the disparity in conclusions from them and another entity (Yale-NUS) which I realize are separate institutions, yet I believed they were tied together via some commonalities - some common goals for their future and their students, and I was merely inquiring how such different decisions (given the applicant’s identical application/achievements) could have come about. I was questioning how they could be perceived SO very differently - with one paying “special homage” if you will, and the other outright “rejecting” them. But several on here have offered some concrete possible explanations, for which I very much appreciate. </p>
<p>What I don’t appreciate is your tone, eastcoastazn, as I honestly don’t think my sincere question warranted your response. (By the way, thanks for the chuckle: I just read where you wrote: “I’m a pretty standard Ivy candidate willing to reinforce the school’s stereotype.” - and frankly, I have no clue, which, if any, US Ivy League Schools you were accepted into, but based on the scores and activities you posted, you are FAR (away) from any students I personally know who were accepted into multiple Ivy League Schools.) Just my observation and opinion. (And I also can’t help but wonder just what “stereotype” you are referring to).</p>